Assad Regime’s Shelling & Siege Campaign on Eastern Ghouta Continues

Russia and Assad regime forces continue to shell residential neighborhoods and service centers in the towns and villages of the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta, causing dozens of civilian casualties and widespread destruction to civilian homes.

Local activists on Monday said that Assad forces targeted several towns and villages in eastern Ghouta with dozens of artillery shells and rockets. They pointed out that the shelling targeted mainly residential neighborhoods in the towns of Ayn Tarma, Muhammadiya, Jasserin, and Kafarbatna in eastern Gouta as well as the district of Jobar in eastern Damascus. The shelling caused massive damage to civilian homes.

Activists added that Assad forces and their allied foreign militias carried out artillery shelling on the towns of Douma, Harasta, and Rayhan, wounding 10 civilians, including three children. In addition to the intensified shelling, Assad regime forces and their allied foreign militias continue with their attempts to advance on the outskirts of eastern Ghouta and the district of Jobar.

Eastern Ghouta media center said that two people were killed in Russian airstrikes on the town of Zamalka in eastern Ghouta on Sunday. The center added that three children were wounded in artillery shelling by Assad forces that targeted civilian homes in the towns of Harasta, Arbeen, and Nishabiya.

In addition to the intensifying onslaught on eastern Ghouta, the rebel-held area has been subjected to suffocating siege by regime forces for nearly four years. Assad regime forces block the entry of UN aid convoys to the besieged towns and villages of eastern Ghouta in violation of international resolutions on Syria.

UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland on Thursday said that hundreds of people in eastern Ghouta need urgent medical evacuation. Seven people have died because they were not evacuated and 29 more were at imminent risk including 18 children, Egeland added. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)